Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Despite the growing importance of high-speed broadband internet, in-home broadband remains unaffordable for many Americans. We explore the labor effects of Internet Essentials by Comcast, a large-scale commercial broadband subsidy program for low-income families. We exploit geographic variation in program availability and individual variation in program eligibility to analyze how the launch of Internet Essentials in 2012 affected labor outcomes for eligible low-income individuals. The findings indicate that county-wide availability of Internet Essentials increased employment rates among eligible low-income individuals by 0.9 percentage points relative to those who were ineligible. This suggests that lack of broadband affordability creates frictions in the job search process that differentially affect low-income job seekers.